Alternative Famous Firsts
Michael Dukes
PCBRJ - President/Chief Broadcaster/Receptionist/Janitor
KWVV (K-Wave 104.9 Alaska's Alternative)/Homer, AK
1987 KJJZ/KVOK Kodiak, Alaska. Was working as a commercial fisherman in Kodiak and heard that the local stations were looking to hire someone part-time on a temporary basis. Since I was in between seasons I applied and got the job as Board op for American Top 40 as well as an evening and weekend shift. I was just supposed to be filling in for a guy that was on vacation, so it was kind of awkward when he came back and they fired him and gave me his position full-time.
Club Nouveau (of "Lean on Me" fame a la 1986). It was weird as it was held in a ballroom at the local convention center in Anchorage. It was a super small space, usually used for chamber of commerce lunches and there were only about 300 people there. But to see artists I knew, live right in front of me? It was pretty awesome.
Def Leppard - Pyromania (1983), followed immediately by Men at Work - Cargo(1983) (I've had pretty eclectic music tastes even then). I bought them both on cassette and used to lay in bed at night and listen to them when I was supposed to be sleeping on my new Walkman! Remember those?
Mac Powell from Third Day (Christian Rock Band). They were doing a concert in town that the station was promoting. I don't remember what we discussed, but I do recall that I really enjoyed his down to earth attitude and passion for the music.
July 1987 - See my "1st Industry Job". I kinda faked (read: lied...don't do this at home kids) my way into that job and at one point on my first day I failed to switch out the turntables for the second hour record of AT40. This unfortunately was also my 1st (and only) on-air curse word, since I'd accidently left the mic open as well. The funniest part was that I thought, in my 17 year old innocence, that nobody had noticed. It was about 3 months later the program director mentioned it to me in passing with a wink. Told me he'd "forgotten" to mention that to the GM for my performance review.
Jeff Morad
Operations Manager / On-Air Host
WEQX/Manchester, VT-Albany, NY
WKPE (104.7)/Cape Cod.
My first concert as a human was with my parents - they took me to see The Beach Boys. My first concert as a human without parents was Beastie Boys. I guess I like boys. Wait...that sounds wrong. I have parents, I just meant my first concert that they let me go to by myself.
I believe my first record purchased actually consists of 18 records that I received for 1 penny...oh those silly record clubs. But really, who didn't use aliases to set up numerous accounts that you'd never pay for???
Frickin' Tommy Lee and I was told not to mention the whole "Pam Anderson thing". There was some sort of technical issue which was causing me to hear myself and him in delay so it took me 7 sweaty seconds to realize he told me to "f**k off" as he hung up.
This happened at Gannon University's WERG - FM 90. I was the morning show host, and as a starving college student, I also had a job as a flower delivery guy. One morning my boss at the flower shop asked me to make some emergency deliveries to like a funeral or something. Not wanting to miss out on the pay, I popped in Phish - A Live One side one and hit the road to make the deliveries, figuring I was fine for the next hour plus. About 20 minutes into my delivery the CD began skipping. That was a frantic drive back to the studio to remedy the issue. I still wonder to this day if anybody realized that the CD was skipping...I mean, after all, it WAS Phish.
Theresa aka TheresaRockFace
National On-Air Talent for iHeartRadio
KTBZ (94.5 The Buzz)/Houston Afternoon Drive and National Alt Rock Talent in Dallas, Indy, The Carolinas, Salt Lake City and beyond
I was an intern turned promo kid for Z95 in my hometown of Kansas City.
New Kids On The Block as a child! My first fangirl experience.
I did the BMG "12 CDs for a penny” thing not knowing it would charge my parents later. I racked up a $300 bill. Nirvana - Nevermind was the only one I listened to on repeat.
I THINK it was Seether after I got my first real airshift. It was over the phone and I remember sweating profusely because I was so nervous. I had never done this on my own before. Shaun was so kind and I couldn't even tell you what we talked about. I never listened to it later. To this day, I don't listen to my interviews. I will always find a million flaws and pick it apart to the death. I choose to put them out there and let it ride.
I was on Saturday nights as a part-timer. I had to pipe in our midday jock who was at a club doing call ins. The song faded out and I blanked on how to get him to come up through the board. I watched the Green Day song countdown to zero and DEAD AIR. Then the hotline started ringing and I slowly died inside. It was a disaster. I still have "dead air" nightmares. It's not the best.
